SAN FRANCISCO -- If you think cybercrime is a problem just faced by large companies, think again. A recent report by Verizon showed that attacks against small companies are on a dramatic upswing. According to the "Verizon 2013 Data Breach Investigations Report," nearly half of the security breaches occurred at companies with fewer than 1,000 employees, and some of those employ fewer than 100.

A separate report by the cyber security giant Symantec paints an even darker picture. According to Symantec, cyberattacks against small businesses -- those with fewer than 250 employees -- increased a whopping 31% in 2012.

With large corporations taking measures to protect their digital assets, cybercriminals are now thinking small by targeting those businesses that may lack the savvy or resources to fully shield themselves. At stake are credit card numbers, bank account information and other data that hackers can quickly turn into cash.

In addition to so-called "phishing" expeditions that seek to extract information from gullible users via email, hackers are using "ransomware" that locks computers unless an exorbitant fee is paid as well as targeting mobile devices with malware.